民房 (mín fáng) — privately-owned house

Definition

noun

privately-owned house

Measure word · 间

Easily confused

民房。
Tā zài jiāo qū mǎi le yí zuò mín fáng.
He bought a privately-owned house in the suburbs.
民房。
Zhè xiē mín fáng dōu shì jǐ shí nián qián jiàn de.
These privately-owned houses were built decades ago.
民房。
Hěn duō rén xǐ huan zài nóng cūn zū mín fáng zhù.
Many people like to rent privately-owned houses in the countryside to live in.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

民 indicates private people and 房 means house, so a privately owned house.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.